In the past three months I have presented articles on how to become involved with trail preservation, articles about federal legislation that controls what we do with our trails, and finally in this month's EN we have an article by Karen Isaacs about what can happen when endurance riders do become involved. Karen and Tom Isaacs live in East Tennessee near the Big South Fork Recreation Area. Karen managed the Big South Fork ride for years. In addition to being committed trail advocates of AERC they also belong to the BackCountry Horsemen of East Tennessee.

AERC's board continues to financially support those trail preservation projects that merit special attention through trail preservation grants. We now have trail advocates in almost every state. In addition to the AERC financially supporting our trail advocates we have one very special endurance rider making a financial commitment to our trail preservation efforts: Julie Suhr continues to donate the proceeds from the sales of her book "Ten Feet Tall, Still" to the AERC Trails Fund. Working in partnership with other trail organizations, AERC is making a dramatic change in our efforts to become a major force in trail preservation throughout the United States. Julie, thank you for all of the help you continue to give the Trails Fund.

And to Karen and Tom Isaacs, you two certainly are role models for endurance riders. Your continued hard work in the field speaks volumes about endurance riders and how we care about our trails. All you need is a horse and a trail. Jerry

The Cherokee National Forest (640,000 acres) includes most of the highest ridges of the Appalachian Mountains along the eastern boundary of Tennessee. About half of the Forest lies to the north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In this area, there have historically been serious shortcomings for the trail rider in both the quantity and quality of trails available.

The few designated horse trails that existed typically had one or more problems such as no parking or access, impassable due to a lack of maintenance, and short isolated trails with no connections. It was not possible to ride a loop of any significant length without using many miles of gravel road and illegal connecting trails.

This area is now in the process of being transformed into a desirable trail riding destination, thanks largely to the efforts of the Back Country Horsemen of East Tennessee (BCHET). In a relatively short amount of time (three years) there have been a number of major accomplishments. These include the completion of two new trailheads designed for horse trailer parking, three more trailheads planned, five trails that were previously open to only hikers redesignated to allow horses, two new trails opened and two extensive trail networks totaling over 50 miles approved for construction. The details of how this progress was achieved are described here.

Organization

Several years ago, some local horsemen recognized the deficiencies, but saw potential for high-quality scenic trails and offered to voluntarily construct trails for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). They were told that the first step they must take was to organize a group. At first we formed an independent group, but within a year decided to become an affiliate of the Back Country Horsemen of America. This organization has a history of volunteer trail work and cooperation with federal land managers. Their expertise, support and encouragement have been a great asset.

Planning

After organizing, the next step was to form a plan for selecting trails. The USFS encouraged the input, since, in most cases, they do not know what riders want nor the location of old roads and routes not shown on maps. Challenges include the fragmented nature of the public land, with typically the higher elevations included, but the valleys occupied by private property, houses and roads. Several areas were identified as suitable for major trail networks due to these characteristics: relatively large land areas, containing existing roads and trails plus many old road beds, having an access point on a public road, and no Wilderness areas. The planning stage involved extensive scouting, on foot and horseback, which uncovered many existing but overgrown treads from the days when timber and ore were extracted. Use of these routes where possible would make trail construction a little easier in the steep terrain. As further assistance, we provided maps and flagged the routes so that the USFS could conduct botanical and archaeological surveys.

Maintenance

While waiting for approval on the new trails, which required the most bureaucracy, there was still plenty of work to do. Existing trails were maintained, most notably the Meadow Creek Mountain Trail. The longest trail in the district, it runs for 14 miles along the crest of the mountain, but was blocked by slides and blowdowns and had not been used in years. There was also no parking available. BCHET volunteers contributed many hours to repair and reopen the trail and build a connector trail. A new trailhead at Burnett Gap was constructed by the USFS.

Trail work

One of the hiking trails identified for redesignation provides a critical connection between a trail system on the western side of Holston Mountain to the new system in work on the eastern side. It is a steep switchback trail that climbs 1700 feet in two miles. It required over 400 hours of work to widen the tread, improve the switchbacks, remove hundreds of beetle-killed pines and modify a rock outcropping before the USFS would approve it for horse travel.

All of this work has been very much appreciated by the USFS, but we have found that some of the simplest things get the biggest results. Picking up trash at the trailheads (Tennesseeans throw a lot of garbage in the woods) is an improvement that is highly visible to the public and USFS.

Volunteer work over the winter will hopefully complete the current phase of the Holston Mountain project by springtime. The result will be some 38 miles of new trail, organized as loops that connect to each other and to additional existing roads and trails. It is accessible from either side of the mountain with one new trailhead in place and another one planned with possibility of future expansion to allow overnight horse camping. BCHET has provided a design and land survey for this trailhead, funded by a small grant from the Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation. The trail system has room for further expansion in several directions.

AERC trails grant

About 60 miles to the south of Holston Mountain is another part of the Cherokee with a lot of trail development activity. Last fall, approval was received to construct a 15-mile loop trail that will connect the Burnett Gap Trailhead and the Meadow Creek Mountain trails to existing trails in the Paint Mountain area.

Just across the French Broad River from here, an old road bed existed along Wolf Creek which was used in the late 1800s to carry mail and other goods from the transportation corridor along the river to a remote mountain community. After the USFS acquired the land, the route fell into disuse. It was reopened last year by efforts of BCHET members. There is however, no place to park a horse trailer in order to ride this trail.

The USFS had planned extensive renovations to the historic community, but the horse trail and parking area were an afterthought, so no money was budgeted for them. Although volunteer labor opened the trail, funds were needed to build the trailhead. AERC came through with a generous grant for $15,000. In addition to the Wolf Creek Trail, there are connections from this area to the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina and additional trails are planned.

Suggestions for success

One of the contributing factors to our success includes the size of our organization. Having more than 450 members (a handful are endurance riders) is proof of the level of interest among the public for recreational horse use. The district rangers have been receptive to the needs of recreational users, and the horseback riders are pushing the hardest for new trails. The rangers have been helpful in providing resourcesÑtools, manpower and guidance. There have been some setbacks because of the recent bad fire seasons, which drain money and manpower even from eastern forests.

Someday we may be able to hold an endurance ride in this beautiful mountain forest, although there are currently no horse camping facilities. There is much work left to do, with further extensions of the trails systems in planning and a dream in place of a long-distance trail that will connect the Great Smoky Mountains to existing horse trails in Virginia's Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area.

More information about BCHET can be found at www. bchet.org.